Yamato-e

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Yamato-e (大和絵) is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Zen Buddhism and developed in the late Heian period. It is considered the classical Japanese style, as opposed to the later ukiyo-e and the earlier Chinese kara-e.

The Yamato-e often tell narrative themes with text along with them, show the beauty of nature, e.g. famous places (meisho-e 名所絵), and the four seasons (shiki-e 四季絵). The pictures are non-symbolic and have the objective of depicting the beauty in nature, as Buddha's incarnation. The pictures are often on scrolls that can be hung on a wall (掛け物, kakemono) or handscrolls (emakimono) that could be read from right to left with the accompanied story or on a folding screen (byoubu, 屏風) or panel (shouji, 障子). Although they received their name from the Yamato period (大和), Yamato-e pictures rather stand for a style and are not restricted to a particular period. Although the most famous artists painted in suiboku style in the Muromachi period, this was not characteristic of early pictures.

Yamato-e had a great influence on the Rimpa (琳派) and ukiyo-e (浮世絵) styles, as well as the nihonga (日本画).